


I Can't Make You Love Me

by cloudrains



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 16:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1517327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudrains/pseuds/cloudrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble- Takes place immediately after the conversation about their schooldays in Order of the Phoenix. Title comes from Bonnie Raitt song, although I listened to the Bon Iver version while writing this. Character cred to JK Rowling.<br/> Not exactly Wolfstar but pretty close.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Can't Make You Love Me

“I was in love all those years.”  
Sirius stands up from the hearth as Harry’s face disappears from the flames. ‘So was I.’ thinks Remus, and a brief glimmer of hope stirs within him. He looks at Sirius, who is staring into the dying embers of the fire, the light wavering and shining on his face.  
“And he’s gone now. Dead. All I have left is Harry.” Sirius buries his face in his hands, and Remus think he can hear a breathy sob escape him. It’s been that way since Remus has been at Grimmauld Place, and probably long before. Sirius will be loud and restless one minute, and completely devastated the next. It pains Remus to see it every time, but this is different. This is not the confession he had hoped for, but perhaps the one he should have expected. His heart breaks, and he can’t help but feel a little bitter. He knows Sirius hasn’t really forgotten him, but it feels as if he has. He turns his head away, not able to look at him.  
It doesn’t last long though, because Sirius starts crying in earnest, and Remus rushes to his side out of habit. Sirius clings to Remus’ robes, his whole body shaking with sobs, and Remus holds him until the tears stop. He has to bite his tongue to keep himself from crying as well, he shuts his eyes tightly and tries to imagine how things could have been. He rests his head on Sirius’ shoulder, and they sit in silence for several long minutes, until Sirius stands up abruptly.  
“Don’t tell Harry.” he says, his voice raspy. Remus can’t imagine what he could say to Harry about this, and shakes his head slowly. Sirius looks incredibly worn, and his eyes crinkle in pain, and suddenly Remus can see how old he truly is, beyond his thirty-five years.  
He moves jerkily away, and Remus watches him go to the kitchen for a bottle of Firewhiskey, then return to the attic in silence, not even glancing back at him. Remus stares at the spot Sirius occupied beside him for a long time, then opens his book again. He moves on the best way he knows how, and buries all thoughts of Sirius deep down, resigning himself to spend the night alone once again in this house that seems to hate him.

**Author's Note:**

> I may turn this into a longer fic, tell me what you think!


End file.
